The present invention relates to educational aids and methods for teaching mathematical and pattern recognition skills to young children.
Even the simplest elements of mathematics as used by adults incorporate significant abstract concepts. For example, the simple operation of counting the items in two groups of items to determine which group has more items implicitly requires understanding of abstract ideas such as what is meant by a number and the concept that one number can be greater or less than another. Likewise, the statement that one group of items includes 8 items requires understanding of the concept that the symbol "8" stands for a particular number and some concept of where that number lies in the order of numbers, i.e., that the number eight is more than seven but less than nine. These concepts are so rudimentary that adults typically employ them without conscious thought, and without ever considering that they have learned these concepts.
These concepts are not inborn, but in fact must be learned by each child during his or her development, typically at the age of about three years to about five years. The child must master these concepts before he or she can begin to grasp more complex ideas such as addition and subtraction. Because the children studying these rudimentary concepts are so young, they typically have very limited attention spans. Educational aids for use with this age group should have features which inherently attract the child's attention. They should constantly challenge the child without presenting a task which is too difficult for the child, leading to frustration and resentment. Thus it is important to present concepts progressively, continually building upon concepts which have previously been taught. Moreover, educational aids should be inexpensive, durable and safe. They should be simple in concept and in execution so that the teacher can concentrate on teaching rather than on operating the aid.
All of these requirements taken together present a formidable problem. Although considerable effort and expense have been devoted to development of educational aids and teaching methods, there has been a substantial need, prior to the present invention, for still further improvements in educational aids for teaching basic mathematical and pattern recognition concepts, and a corresponding need for improvements in methods of teaching these concepts.